FRUSTRATED eating back calories and now gaining weight :(

bparr

I am so frustrated. I've been at this almost 10 weeks! I should be getting skinnier every week, but now I'm gaining steadily. I went from 1200 to 1500 calories and not eating exercise calories back for the first 7 weeks, then stopped losing. upped my calories because(started to eat back exercises calories and gaining steadily all the weight that lost. I don't get it. I just am so beyond frustrated at this point. I look like i am still pregnant and I feel flabbier. I can't win for losing.

You're not being clear...

you went from 1200 to 1500, stalled out and started to eat them back?

1. Calculate your TDEE
2. Know your body fat
3. Create a deficit

I can help you with step 2 and 3.

step 2:


step3:
Women Categories

Category 1: Less than 24% body fat. 

Category 2: 25-35% body fat 

Category 3: 35% > body fat.

Below is the formula to calculate your deficit.
Category 1 = multiply TDEE by .90
Category 2 = multiply TDEE by .85
Category 3 = multiply TDEE by .80

all 3 steps in detail are covered here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

Luv the visual :bigsmile:

elyelyse

all the bad foods are acidic.all the protein is acidic.your body hasnt had a chance to go alkaline.it tries its best to get to normal.i drink 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water with dinner.3 out of 5 days.i am down 10lbs. havent changed my diet or had surgery yet.and i think it is the baking soda that did it.i did add a salad late at night instead of junk.but i been eating junk in day time.they also make alkaline water.hope this helps you

...what? :noway:

newdaydawning79

all the bad foods are acidic.all the protein is acidic.your body hasnt had a chance to go alkaline.it tries its best to get to normal.i drink 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water with dinner.3 out of 5 days.i am down 10lbs. havent changed my diet or had surgery yet.and i think it is the baking soda that did it.i did add a salad late at night instead of junk.but i been eating junk in day time.they also make alkaline water.hope this helps you

Alkaline water tastes a lot better that's for sure! There's also mineral water which is alkaline as well, but to me it's nasty unless you mix it with something.

Never heard of this weight loss theory but I know I'd never drink baking soda water!

wibutterflymagic

Define "gaining"...are you 2 lbs heavier all of a sudden? If so, you aren't gaining - it's water weight. If you start eating more it takes a few days for your body to adjust.

Everyone needs to stop freaking out about a pound or two here or there. You aren't going to see meaningful results, positive or negative, over a period of less than a week.

Yes! Pretty much exactly right. 1200 could have been too little for you. Yes, you will lose to begin, but you will eventually plateau (like you did) By eating more, your getting your body out of that under-eating mode. You will gain back a few pounds, but it will be OKAY! Give yourself a week or two, and I bet you'll start losing again!

This. At 1200, even eating back exercise calories, you were most likely not eating enough. When you upped your calories your body was adjusting to being feed better and probably some water weight. I would suggest calculating your BMR and TDEE here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
You can do it 2 ways, place your activity level at sedentary(if you have a desk job) and then eat back ALL your exercise calories or you can calculate your activity into your daily calories and then you wouldn't have to worry about how many calories you are burning while working. When logging exercise you would change the burn to 1 calorie because they are already calculated into your daily calories to eat. The only time you would eat back some exercise calories is if you did a workout that is extremely, above and beyond what your "normal" workout is.

K_Serz

Three possibilities:

You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

Or you need your thyroid checked.

I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"

Terpnista84

Three possibilities:

You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

Or you need your thyroid checked.

Ohhhh it drives me nuts when people say I am under estimating my calories. To me its like saying "Your telling me I am under estimating my 1500 calories a day enough to make me gain a pound, which would mean me accidentally eating 3,500-5000 calories more than what I expect?" I highly doubt my homemade sandwich with wheat bread, ham, and spinach with a serving of chips is anything close to 1k calories. Didn't mean to directly fire this at you, but when people say that booooy It gets me pissed lol I'm not even the poster, but I doubt she is under estimating that many calories to make her gain. >.<

Do you use a food scale to measure EVERYTHING?

If you don't, then I don't see how it's unreasonable for anyone to ask the question.

Underestimating by 200-300 calories a day would add up over time.

I agree and if you don't measure, weigh and log everything you eat, it would be easy to rack up that many calories in a day that are unaccounted for.

JenniBaby85

Three possibilities:

You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

Or you need your thyroid checked.

I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"

I lift heavy 4 times a week, eat between 1300-1400 calories a day, always meet my protein and fiber percentage, and have a thyroid problem that has made it very difficult to lose weight. Sorry to bust your bubble dude, but hypothyroidism makes it VERY difficult to lose weight. My dosage of levothyroxine has been upped, and reduced SO much that I feel like ripping the thing out myself. . Unless you are a doctor, and/or have your own thyroid condition, don't jump to conclusions.

K_Serz

Three possibilities:

You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

Or you need your thyroid checked.

I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"

I lift heavy 4 times a week, eat between 1300-1400 calories a day, always meet my protein and fiber percentage, and have a thyroid problem that has made it very difficult to lose weight. Sorry to bust your bubble dude, but hypothyroidism makes it VERY difficult to lose weight. My dosage of levothyroxine has been upped, and reduced SO much that I feel like ripping the thing out myself. . Unless you are a doctor, and/or have your own thyroid condition, don't jump to conclusions.

I didnt mean to say it was impossible that it was her thyroid, on the contrary I was hoping that it was not and didnt want to jump to the conclusion that it was. Some good advice is to try to do some things at home before running to the doctor and getting tons of labwork for something that may or may not be there. With your logic, everyone here thats overweight, could possibly have a thyroid issue and should all go get checked. Thanks for your input though and sorry about your goiter.

K_Serz

Clicked reply instead of edit.....oops, hate when that happens sorry.

mari213

Thank you for all this good information here.. I've been at a plateau after gaining 3 lbs. My Personal Trainer says the I'm gaining muscle. The scale drives me crazy. I decided to stay off the scale for a week and just continue to focus on what I'm doing. I do notice all the other changes in my body, the looser clothing, the definition in my arms, my energy levels.. so, I'm not sweating it (no pun intended). I went from a 38.9% body fat to a 35.6%.. so, I must be doing something right.. right? My advice to you is to stick with it.. don't let the scale discourage you. As long as your nutrition is good, your water intake, and you're excercising.. it will all fall into place. These things take time. Hang in there!! :flowerforyou:

MsPudding

I agree and if you don't measure, weigh and log everything you eat, it would be easy to rack up that many calories in a day that are unaccounted for.

Agree here too. When I started this I spent a couple of days eating what I'd normally eat with no attempt to change anything. The only thing I did is note down how much I thought the portion was, then weigh it and note down how much it actually was. The difference between my 'guess by eye' portion control and actually weighing something was HUGE!

For instance my 'guestimate' of 50g of cheese was more like 80g - a 120 calorie difference. Make that mistake on a few foods in a day and it's disturbingly easy to clock up several hundred calories a day more than needed....which, let's face it, is how those of us who need to lose weight got here...because if we were so great at judging portion sizes we wouldn't be fat would we